Objective. To test the reliability, feasibility, and responsiveness of a categorization scheme for assessing pharmacy students' levels of reflection during internships. Methods. Pharmacy interns at Uppsala University were asked to write a reflective essay about patient counseling at the start and end of their internships. A modified version of Kember's categorization scheme for assessing the level of reflection was used to evaluate these essays.Results. Based on their essay scores, the students' levels of reflection increased during the internship course (p , 0.001) The mean time for categorization was 3 minutes per essay. The interrater reliability of the 182 essays was k 5 0.63. Conclusions. The evaluation of the categorization scheme showed that it has good interrater reliability, feasibility, and responsiveness. This scheme might be useful in pharmacy practice educational settings, but needs further validation.

The role of the pharmacist as a "communicator" of information and advice between patients, other healthcare practitioners, and the community is recognized as a vital component of the responsibilities of a practicing pharmacist. Pharmacy education is changing to reflect this, although the difficulty is in designing a curriculum that is capable of equipping students with the necessary knowledge and skills, using activities that are effective in promoting communication competency. The objective of this review was to identify published, peer-reviewed articles concerning communication training in pharmacy education programs, and describe which communication skills the structured learning activities aimed to improve and how these learning activities were assessed. A systematic literature search was conducted and the articles found were analyzed and divided into categories based on specific communication skills taught and type of learning activity used. Oral interpersonal communication skills targeted at patients were the most common skill-type described, followed by clinical writing skills. Common teaching methods included simulated and standardized patient interactions and pharmacy practice experience courses. Most educational interventions were assessed by subjective measures. Many interventions were described as fragments, in isolation of other learning activities that took place in a course, which impedes complete analysis of study results. To succeed in communication training, integration between different learning activities and progression within pharmacy educations are important.

Most graduates from the web-based pharmacy programmes were satisfied with their current job. Access to continuing professional development seems to be important for the level of job satisfaction among pharmacists.

Objective. To identify individual and social factors associated with pharmacy students' level of reflection in an advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE). Methods. A postal questionnaire, including a reflective assignment, was sent to all pharmacy interns (n5262) at Uppsala University, Sweden, for 4 semesters in [2005][2006][2007]. Results. In a univariate analysis, 7 factors were found to be associated with students' level of reflection. After controlling for covariates, 3 social factors were found to be independently associated with reflection: having a formal preceptor (OR55.3), being at a small pharmacy (OR519.8), and students' perception of the importance of discussing critical thinking with the preceptor (OR51.2). No correlation could be observed between level of reflection and critical thinking, nor learning style. Conclusion. Social components seem to be of higher importance than individual components in students' reflective levels after pharmacy internship experience. Trained preceptors are important to foster reflection skills.